Electronic, processor-based terminal devices, mobile terminal devices, such as, mobile phones, smartphones, notebook computers and the like first are configured to perform various tasks and make use of services. Services that use preceding configurations include, for example, services for message transmission such as, e-mail or the Multimedia Messaging Service that are provided in a cellular network or other communication network. During configuration, programs are installed in the terminal devices and parameters are stored that serve to execute programs and to use services. In mobile terminal devices, these parameters are generally adapted to the home cellular network in which the terminal device is to be operated. This is why the configuration is normally carried out by the operator of the cellular network.
Configuration parameters are usually stored in a specific data structure in the terminal devices. The data structure has elements that contain the value of the parameters and to which a designation is assigned for identifying the associated parameters. An example of such a data structure is a tree structure of the type provided, for example, for terminal device management corresponding to the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device Management (OMA DM) specified by the OMA, which is being used more and more often in mobile terminal devices. The elements of the tree structure correspond to the nodes of the tree to which a designation has been assigned, and which can contain a parameter value (a node may not contain a parameter value; for example, internal nodes of the tree structure can also be unfilled, serving only as a connection point from the node's child nodes to the tree structure).
The parts of the data structure in which the configuration parameters are stored in a terminal device, each configuration parameter relating to the configuration of a specific application or of a specific service, typically include a number of individual elements. Some of these elements are defined so as to attempt to encompass as many device types and manufacturers as possible, although some elements are defined for specific manufacturers or specific device types. The elements can already be incorporated into the data structure at the time when the terminal device is manufactured. However, at least some elements are augmented at the time of the configuration. Here, different elements are augmented during the configuration of the terminal devices of different manufacturers or of different types.
Consequently, knowledge of the specific data structure that the terminal device contains for purposes of storing the configuration parameters is used to perform adaptations to the configuration parameters of a terminal device of a specific device type on the basis of instructions for the possible generation of the relevant elements of the data structure, and for the storage of parameter values in the elements of the data structure provided for this purpose. An adaptation of configuration data on the basis of such instructions can be performed, for example, by the OMA DM. One problem, however, lies in the fact that the precise data structure for storing the configuration data of a terminal device is often not precisely known. Therefore, before configuration data of a terminal device can be changed, typically, the data structure is made available by the manufacturer of the terminal device.
Other known configuration methods can be carried out without precise knowledge of the configuration data structure of the terminal device that is to be configured. With this method, configuration parameters for certain services or applications are transferred to the terminal device in a predefined format or with predefined parameter designations for the first-time configuration, and a configuration mechanism implemented in the terminal device ensures that the configuration parameters are stored in the elements of the data structure intended for this purpose. An example of such a configuration method is OMA Client Provisioning (OMA CP), which has likewise been specified by the OMA.
Older configuration procedures such as OMA CP, however, often have a number of drawbacks. With OMA CP, one of these drawbacks is that it provides only a one-way transmission of messages from a configuration server to the terminal device that is to be configured, and the terminal device cannot send messages to the configuration server. As a result, the terminal device cannot supply feedback about the successful completion of the configuration, which is possible with the newer methods, such as the OMA DM. Moreover, OMA CP does not allow any configuration that can be carried out without interaction with the user of the terminal device. Moreover, the scope of the functions of OMA CP is much smaller than that of OMA DM. For instance, OMA CP cannot perform functions such as firmware updates, the installation of applications such as various diagnostic functions relating to terminal device parameters such as battery level, network coverage, etc., and an expansion of the scope of the functions is no longer planned.
Consequently, among other things, for the reasons mentioned above, a configuration by the OMA DM may be used, although it entails the described problem that the data structure for storing the configuration data is often not known.